The object of this invention is to provide a fabricated sheet structure from which garments, having a correcting and/or therapeutic action, are made.
The sheet structure is formed of a first sheet a fabric material which is flexible in all directions. The first sheet is corrugated so that both surfaces thereof are provided with alternate recesses and ribs. One of these surfaces constitutes a mold for a layer of latex material, one surface of which is complementary to the recesses and ribs of the sheet of fabric material and the other surface of which is smooth.
The latex sheet has a variable section, taken in the longitudinal direction of the ribs, such that the thickness of the latex sheet increases from one end of the ribs to the other, or vice versa.
The smooth surface of the latex layer has fixed thereto a second sheet of fabric material, preferably a smooth knitted fabric which is flexible in all directions.
The fabricated sheet structure may be formed into a tubular shaped body having a first narrowere end and a second wider end, with the latex layer increasing in thickness from the narrower end to the wider end, while the ribs are positioned inwardly of the tubular body and extend longitudinally with respect to the axis of the tubular body.
Also, the fabricated sheet structure may be in the form of a rectangular strip having a variable section with the ribs being arranged transversely of the strip.
The ribs formed by the first fabric sheet which constitutes the mold for the lates, are transversely deformable and constitute gripping ribs.
With the fabricated sheet structure thus constructed, a starting base is provided for producing garments having the following effects:
Thermotherapeutic PA2 Hydrotherapic PA2 Superficial PA2 Electrophysiologic PA2 Quinesiotherapic PA2 Reanimating PA2 Postural correction PA2 Thermogenic
The thermotherapeutic effect is produced due to the fact that the skin has a physiological hypothermy when compared with the internal temperature. Consequently, if the skin is covered with an impermeable material wherein there are virtual spaces, formed by the channels or recesses which are formed on one of the surfaces of the fabricated sheet structure of the invention, the thin layer of air which immediately surrounds the cutaneous surface, since it is in continuous contact and it remains stable for a long period of time, is heated and moistened. This enhances the gaseous interchange of carbonic anhydrids and oxygen, since the accumulated air will slowly flow towards the upper and lower parts, renewing but not cooling the internal parts.
For the above to take place, it is necessary for the channels or recesses of the garment, whether a girdle or a one-piece garment, to have been oriented to extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body covered by the garment.
The increase in temperature described is irradiated towards the internal medium, directly influencing the lowermost subcutaneous and muscular planes to indirectly increase the dermal capillar circulation, the permeability of which causes the substances dissolved in the blood plasma to pass to the tissues and to circulate between their cells.
The hydrotherapic effect is based on the increase in sweat secretion due to the thermal stimulus of heat, since the latex layer of the fabricated sheet structure is impermeable. Thus, there occurs a greater degree of elimination of water, electrolytes and metabolites, thereby beneficially acidifying the pH of the cutaneous layer.
The superficial effect is one of protection and is based on the epicutaneous emulsified layer composed of two non-miscible liquid phases. The water of the imperceptible perspiration and that of the sweat consitute an aqueous phase, while the lipids of the sebaceous secretion form the main ingredient of an oily phase.
When this emulsified layer is increased, the loss in cellular water is enhanced and there is formed a protecting layer which covers the cutaneous surface homogeneously in the same way as a cream, thus giving the skin a greater resistance, plasticity and smoothness.
The electrophysiologic effect is produced when the corneum layer has a high electrical resistance which can be diminished by a mechanical stimulus, such as a massage, thus beneficially increasing the epidermal permeability.
Due to the latex which is incorporated into the fabricates sheet structure from which the garments are made, and to its great elasticity, resistance and eacy recuperation, and as a result of the normal movements of the body of the user, a slight and smooth massage takes place on the anatomical zone covered by the garment, with a constant "massaging" of the subcutaneous and muscular planes. This favours the adipose micronization and, therefore, the elimination of the neutral fats through the vascular and lymphatic circulation, as well as a consumption of calories on the part of the muscular tissue which the fat reserve can use in the absence of gluicides, with the consequent decrease in adipose tissue. This produces a quinesiotherapic effect which facilitates an increase in the blood circulation which can produce a larger or better oxigenation of the tissues.
The reanimation effect is produced by physicochemical mechanisms, with the elimination of the toxic products formed during the cellular metabolism (muscular latic acid), and by the increase of the gaseous interchange (oxygen-carbonic anhydride), when influencing the dermal capillar circulation and the sweating and sebaceous external secretions.
Physical effects are produced when a slight pressure is exerted on the cutaneous surface and is transmitted to the internal medium, giving rise to a better support of organs situated in empty spaces and a better functioning thereof.
On the other hand, a psychic effect can be exerted on the person, when noticing the comfort of a garment having the aforementioned qualities. When an external stress is added thereto, it diminishes the stretching of the muscles, at the same time as it enhances their functional recovery, reducing the energetic waste and limiting the risk of possible fibrilla breakage.
The constitution of the sheet confers to the garment, according to its shape and formation, a correction action capable of eliminating alterations in the posture of the vertebral or articular column, thus preventing organic deficiencies and pathological postures, such as ciphosis, lardosi, scoliosis, as well as the effects of general indisposition, tiredness, fatigue, etc.
The thermogenic effect is produced in the same way as the therapeutic effect. However, its application is directed to the preservation of the temperature of an organism when in a strange ambient media.
This effect is exemplified by a diver who suffers from the negative thermal action of the water, at which time the diver consumes calories more rapidly than the human body can produce.
When the body is covered with an impermeable material wherein there are virtual spaces formed by the channels or recesses formed on the inner surface of the fabricated sheet structure of the invention, the thin layer of water surrounding the cutaneous surface heated, thus creating a microclima which retards the escape of calories. Thus, an increase in the dermal capillar circulation and a higher dynamic muscular efficiency are indirectly achieved.
In the majority of cases wherein an anatomical zone of a human being is covered, thus exerting a peripheric pressure, even as slight as possible, it is necessary for this pressure to be exerted equally over the entire covered zone. Therefore, the layer of latex is thicker at the widest part of the garment, and thinner at the narrowest part thereof.
The reason for this dimensional relationship is that when the covered surface is increased using the same elastic resistance, there results a pressure per unit of surface area which is proportionally lower than when this same elastic resistance is applied to a smaller surface. Therefore, an anatomically constructed garment, e.g. for a thigh, presses more tightly on the lower part of the thigh than on the upper part thereof.
When the thickness of the latex is increased, a variable is introduced into the elastic coefficient, proportionally increasing the pressure applied to the covered surface, so that the pressure per unit of surface in homogeneous at any point. This constitutes an important factor in the achievement of the aforementioned effects.
In special cases, such as for example in the treatment of varix and other circulatory problems, it is desirable to provoke a difference in pressures, the object of which is to stimulate the circulatory process.
In such situation, since the thickness of the latex is greater at one end of a molded tubular body, e.g. in the form of a stocking, by inverting the prior reasoning, that is to say by providing the narrowest portion or that having the smallest diameter with a greater thickness, a greater pressure, when exerted on the legs for example, is obtained on the heel than on the thigh. The applied pressure decreases towards the heart, thus stimulating the return or peripheric circulation.